Yemen: Cholera treatment centre reunites family

It was a shattering blow to Basheer Thabet, from Sana’a, Yemen, when he learned that his eight children and wife tested positive for cholera.

Basheer’s children and wife were suffering from severe diarrhoea and vomiting. After they were hospitalized and medically tested in Al-Thawra Hospital in Sana’a, Basheer received the most shocking news of his life: his children and wife were infected by cholera. “I thought they were all going to die. At the time, I perceived cholera to be an incurable and fatal disease,” Basheer said.

The children, ranging from 3 to 13 years, and their mother, who was nine months’ pregnant at the time, were referred to the isolation section in Al-Sabeen Hospital in Sana’a. They received medical care and were later moved to the hospital’s newly rehabilitated diarrhoea treatment centre, established by WHO.

“It took nearly 15 days until my children and wife recovered. These days were an absolute nightmare for me,” Basheer recalled. Three months after this experience, Basheer said that a new life was granted to him and his family.

This story features on CERF 2017 Annual Report